A former US Forces Korea (USFK) chief said Friday that North Korea's recent self-proclaimed hypersonic missile launches, if true, can be a reason for South Korea and the United States to be "very concerned," citing the absence of "sure means" to counter them. Curtis Scaparrotti, who led the USFK from 2013-2016, made the remarks after Pyongyang claimed to have successfully test-fired hypersonic missiles on Jan. 5 and Tuesday. South Korea's military has assessed that the Nort

The government and the ruling Democratic Party of Korea agreed Friday to lift the restricted military zone designation for some areas near the inter-Korean border to secure more land for civilian use and development.  The Defense Ministry and the ruling party held a consultative meeting and decided to release restrictions on about 2.74 million “pyeong” of land, equal to about 9 square kilometers, near the inter-Korean border controlled by the military.  The move will allo

South Korea and the US are considering putting off their annual springtime combined military exercises from March to April, due to the March 9 presidential election and the COVID-19 situation, according to local news reports Thursday. 　 Yonhap News Agency, citing unnamed sources, said the allies have been discussing a possible delay due to the election season and spread of the coronavirus. 　 The Ministry of National Defense, in responding to the report, said the two sides are still in talks o

South Korea and the United States are considering postponing their combined springtime military exercise, usually held in March, to April due to the March 9 presidential election and the COVID-19 pandemic, multiple sources said Thursday. The allies have been discussing the possible delay in consideration of the virus' unabated spread and the need to ensure South Korean troops can exercise their voting rights in the election unhindered by the round-the-clock command post training, the sources sa

Tours to the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjom will be suspended starting next week due to spikes in COVID-19 infections, the UN Command (UNC) said Wednesday. The UNC will discontinue the tour program to the Joint Security Area in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas, effective Tuesday, less than two months after it resumed the tours in line with the country's "living with COVID-19" scheme. "UNC coordinated this suspension closely with the Ministry of Uni

South Korea has successfully tested a counter missile system for military aircraft to help dodge enemies' portable surface-to-air missiles, a state-run defense research agency said Wednesday. The directional infrared countermeasures (DIRCM) system enables aircraft to dodge missiles by emitting a laser beam to the ground, blinding missiles that rely on heat to track targets. The Agency for Defense Development (ADD) said it carried out an initial operational test and evaluation on helicopters un

South Korea's military on Wednesday reported 65 additional COVID-19 cases, including 62 breakthrough infections, raising the total caseload among its personnel to 3,526. Of the new cases, 46 are from the Army, 14 from the Air Force, four from units under the direct control of the defense ministry, and one from the Marine Corps. Currently, 226 military personnel are under treatment. Of the total military caseload, 1,708 are breakthrough cases. (Yonhap)

   South Korea's Defense Minister Suh Wook called Monday for "full attention" to keeping a combined defense posture with the United States as he commented on a recent rise in COVID-19 infections among US Forces Korea (USFK) personnel.    Suh made the call during a virtual meeting of top military commanders on anti-virus efforts, voicing concerns over the continued spread of the omicron variant on and off base.    The USFK had confirmed a weekly record

Seoul has the world‘s fourth-largest defense R&D expenditure

South Korea's military on Monday reported four additional COVID-19 cases, all of which are breakthrough infections, raising the total caseload among its personnel to 3,444. Of the new cases, three are from the Army and one from a unit under the direct control of the defense ministry. Currently, 191 military personnel are under treatment. Of the total military caseload, 1,631 are breakthrough cases. (Yonhap)

US Forces Korea (USFK) said Saturday it has decided to toughen social distancing rules for its service members amid the growing number of infections among its troops. The USFK had confirmed a weekly record high of 682 additional COVID-19 cases among its personnel from Dec. 28 to Tuesday. It did not offer more details, including the number of breakthrough cases or locations of the infected members. "Due to the continued presence of COVID-19 within United States Forces Korea and South Korea

South Korea's military on Friday reported 27 additional COVID-19 cases, including 25 breakthrough infections, raising the total caseload among its personnel to 3,403. Of the new cases, 19 are from the Army, four from the Air Force, two from the Navy and two from the Marine Corps. Currently, 217 military personnel are under treatment. Of the total military caseload, 1,591 are breakthrough cases. (Yonhap)

The remains of a South Korean troop killed in the 1950-53 Korean War have been identified following their recovery from a former battle site last year, the defense ministry said Friday. In October, the ministry's excavation team found the remains of Ssg. Kim Il-soo from the site, White Horse Ridge, inside the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas. It later identified him through a DNA analysis. The identification was possible as his younger brother had registered his DNA sample with the

South Korea, the United States and Japan have postponed their trilateral defense ministerial talks that they had considered holding this month, Seoul's defense ministry said Thursday. Japanese media outlets reported earlier that the three countries have decided to delay the talks set to take place next Thursday in Hawaii due to the spread of the omicron variant. "There were not any discussions yet as to when to rearrange the talks," Col. Moon Hong-sik, the ministry's deputy spokesper

South Korea’s military said Wednesday that it failed to stop a North Korean defector even though he was caught on surveillance cameras five times. The Joint Chiefs of Staff on Wednesday disclosed the results of its on-site investigation into how the 30-something North Korean man returned to the North Saturday night. The military currently believes that the defector is the same person who defected to the South in November 2020. The military first spotted him approaching the border reg